The Small Back Room (1949)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger

Writers:

Nigel Balchin (novel)
Michael Powell (writer) ...

Release Date:

23 February 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

Plot:

As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on 1943 England, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.

Plot Keywords:

Pain | Bomb | Booby Trap | Bomb Disposal | Dorset

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

David Farrar	...	Sammy Rice
Kathleen Byron	...	Susan
Jack Hawkins	...	R.B. Waring
Leslie Banks	...	Col. A.K. Holland
Michael Gough	...	Capt. Dick Stuart
Cyril Cusack	...	Cpl. Taylor
Milton Rosmer	...	Prof. Mair
Walter Fitzgerald	...	Brine
Emrys Jones	...	Joe
Michael Goodliffe	...	Till
Renée Asherson	...	A.T.S. corporal
Anthony Bushell	...	Col. Strang
Henry Caine	...	Sgt. Maj. Rose
Elwyn Brook-Jones	...	Gladwin
James Dale	...	Brigadier

Also Known As:

Hour of Glory (USA)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | UK:A | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Chesil Bank, Dorset, England, UK

Company:

Archers, The

Trivia:

The first film acting role of Bryan Forbes.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: A little over 75 minutes into the film, during the scene where the character of Sammy Rice trashes his sitting room, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen reflected in the empty picture frame in the foreground of the shot.

Quotes:

Susan: Where were you going Sammy?
Sammy Rice: I don't know.
Susan: A woman?
Sammy Rice: Maybe.
Susan: How about me?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Taxi Driver (1976)

Soundtrack:

Night Club Music

This is from a time when writers still roamed the earth

A fine terse drama like this one is inconceivable today for many reasons, most of them having to do with market forces which dictate that only films about superheroes in long underwear and adolescent revenge fantasies are to get financing and international distribution. But the main reason why it can't be duplicated today is the quality of the writing by Emeric Pressburger, an innovative genius who wasn't afraid to leave his mark on material adapted from another medium and to use his imagination to keep things vivid at all times. The film shines in its production values, photography, art direction, casting but most of all in its details and its capacity to involve the viewer in a subject that would seem almost repellent today, a complicated and imperfect man's devotion to his work in time of war. If a film's success is to be measured by its capacity to take the viewer out of the ordinary, this film is certainly a hit. Its success is helped by the talent of the principals, a wise woman every warrior would like to return to (Kathleen Byron) and the most gorgeous hunk of uncompromising masculinity ever to grace a British screen and titillate the female viewers, David Farrar.